SHILLONG: The UDP on Friday claimed that some Congress MLAs have approached the party to shift their allegiance.
Talking to media persons here on Friday, UDP leader, Jemino Mawthoh said, “There are some MLAs from the Congress who have spoken to us. What can we say? If they want to join they can and the party would welcome them.”
He also said that some Congress MLAs have also approached the UDP with a request to form the government, adding, however, that the MDA government is strong and they are trying to further consolidate it.
Reiterating that the Congress from the beginning has been asking the UDP to come together and form the government, he said that the party has already declined the offer. “I believe they must have approached other parties as well and they too would decline the request”, he said.
He said that after having been in power for long the Congress is now finding it difficult to work as opposition and hence trying to talk to other parties so that they can combine and form the government.
“But I don’t think this idea will materialise as of now,” he said.
The Congress had recently claimed that it was trying to establish a connect with its friendly neighbours to form a new government.
UDP blames ties with
BJP for poor show
The UDP has admitted that its alliance with the BJP affected its performance while maintaining that none of the MDA partners betrayed the party during the recent Lok Sabha elections in which its leader Jemino Mawthoh was the common candidate of the ruling MDA for the Shillong seat.
Talking to media persons here on Friday after the CEC meeting of the party, UDP leader Jemino Mawthoh admitted that the party’s alliance with BJP affected its performance as people at the ground level did not accept it. “The issues of being with BJP, CAB, cow slaughter and conversion created havoc as far as campaigning was concerned,” Mawthoh said.
Mawthoh also expressed surprise as to how the vote share of the Congress showed an abnormal jump from 33 per cent in 2014 to 53 per cent in 2019 in the Shillong parliamentary constituency, adding that the party managed to get people on their side while it was late for the UDP to clarify on the issues.
He, however, said that the UDP had done well in both the Council and Assembly elections.
Earlier, senior party leader Bindo M Lanong said that the party was not betrayed by any of the MDA partners but that the electorate was misled by the Congress.
The CEC reviewed the party’s performance as it lost the election from Shillong seat by a huge margin.
He also said that the stand of the party as far as the CAB is concerned has not changed and also that it supports other parties on the basis of issues.
“If any issue goes against the interest of the state, we will not be there with them,” Lanong said.
He said he party would hold a meeting next month to discuss and prepare for the upcoming GHADC elections.
